Name It!

Reclaim:

One definition from Merriam-Webster's is "to rescue from an undesirable state." We should be proud of rescuing - it shows selflessness and heroism. As for an "undesirable" state, each piece has its own storyline and whether that previous state was undesirable or not...you should probably ask the wood. Regardless of its former life, the majority of our reclaimed wood is re-purposed and breathes new life as fresh, innovative designs - each with a new name. The minority of this collection remains nameless, hovering in a raw medium...waiting.


These 12-foot long teak planks only begin to tell a story. But without a purpose, they remain lifeless. Will you challenge yourself to reincarnate the raw and reclaimed, and give it a name?

Farm gets closer to your table

We've done a bit of restaurant work over the years.





Lately, we've been fielding increasing requests for bar tops, tables, and even some chairs, especially since our first restaurant show early this year.

So, now when we run across articles like Field Report: Fresh Direction in the NY Times magazine at the end of April there's a different level of interest. Like how eating in a restaurant is never the same if you've worked in a kitchen or waited tables.

Like most concerned with sustainability issues and interested in living a more planet-friendly life, we've been encouraged by the steady growth of Slow Food, Farm to Table, and CSAs (community supported agriculture) efforts over the past two decades, and there seems to be a critical growth marker with places like Coon Rock Farm's, Eno Restaurant & Market.

There are all sorts restaurants focused on getting locally & responsibly produced menus. Some are even looking to supply their own ingredients in part - like the upcoming Breuckelen, for example. Detractors and critics of these efforts obviously point to challenges like where to source olive oil, spices or staples like rice and flour, but we think they miss the overall point that taking small steps toward a larger goal are required even if everything can't be solved at once.

Eno Restaurant & Market wants to take local production one step further by producing nearly all of its menu at Coon Rock Farms, which is only about 20 miles away. The partners at Coon Rock Farms - Jamie DeMent & Richard Holcomb - and chef Marco Shaw - formally of Fife in Portland, OR - intend for the farm to provide about 60% of their menu, with hopes to eventually reach 100%. Their goals include continuing to supply local CSA's and even customers in the restaurant (like that turnip salad? when you ask for the check, just tell them to include a few bunches for you to make at home)

photo: David La Spina, New York Times

Listening to chef Shaw discuss the challenges of sourcing locally and working seasonally in the present day restaurant industry you get the sense that he and the team at Eno can make this work. Eno Restaurant & Market could just become another part in the effort toward decentralized, regional production, which some point to as part of the solutions to creating sustainable cities and towns.

photo: Project for Public Spaces site

Of course, spend time with anyone old enough to remember when small, local family farms weren't an endangered species and when vacation planning meant navigating tight harvest schedules and they'd marvel that anyone would think that some of these concepts are foreign. We think that proves exactly how far and how quickly we've gone from having intimate knowledge of food's origins to thinking that pork chops just come wrapped in cellophane. It's like how we must feel when people seemed puzzled when we say that there's no such thing as a plywood tree and MDF isn't an exotic hardwood.

Even if it's not a new idea, we really appreciate the effort to get the farm even closer to the table (hopefully an FTS table). Looking in the past can sometimes point toward a great future path, and Eno Restaurant & Market and Coon Rock Farm will hopefully be one sign of the path to come.

The Hunt

The search for the perfect blend of elements in furniture design sometimes feels like a treasure hunt. Our design style is the weapon we weld and our experiences serve as our guide. We all have a perfect preconceived image of the thing we desire and we’re simply hoping to find it. Take this designer’s desk sketch from earlier this week at our Chelsea location.

Once the image is revealed to others, the hunt begins. Sketches like this act as a starting point and the terrain is our Greenpoint warehouse. We promise not to laugh if you ask for a compass and map while navigating through our 25,000 square foot labyrinth. Along this terrain, shapes and dimensions spiral out of control while grain colors mesh. Eventually a simple sketch morphs into something new. It could be the next best thing or the next best bust.

Either way, something was discovered this day, hopefully it has worth.

Did you see..?

We were in last week's issue of Time Out in their "The Best Indie Shops" feature. Just like everyone at Time Out we love quality and a good sale, so we're figure that makes us a good match for the article.

So, with spring seeming to have officially sprung, it's time for bike rides, walks to the park, and maybe taking a trip down to West St. to see us. Check out our tiny blurb on the Greenpoint page

We're glad to be part of the Greenpoint neighborhood that's been recipient of a bit of press lately, what with New York Magazine's latest round of neighborhood rankings, and subsequent article in the NY Times, one would think we'd be blushing from all the attention, but I think it's safe to say that since we've been here for about 7 years, we're pleased, but not all that surprised.

It's a great chance to visit not only us, but some of our neighborhood friends who were listed like Kill Devil Hill and Le Grenier (both of which we love), and other great places (we guess guides can only be so big?) like Pipsqueak Chapeau , Dandelion Wine, and Word, all on Franklin. Hope to see you soon.

Happy Anniversary, Earth Day

This coming Thursday is Earth Day - the 40th Anniversary - and we think it's a great time to mark all the progress that's been made, and simultaneously think about all that still needs to be done.

Here at FTS we've been really busy over the past year, joining the Sustainable Furnishings Council, experimenting with various eco-friendly finishes, working with the Rainforest Alliance's Smartwood Program to nail down VLO verfication, and prepping to make the next steps toward several different types of certifications. So, we're really aware of how much work it takes to get down in the trenches and make a push toward a sustainable world. It's takes a global effort, it's a local effort, and it takes individual effort.

In the run up there looks like they'll be a lot of different efforts and publicity related to Earth Day, and we found a couple of great examples.

A great source that talks about all the urgent work that still needs to be done is an article by Patricia Pooladi on the National Academies site. It gives great resources on global needs and efforts. One of the pieces we're excited to see is WLIW 21's "Going Green Long Island" a local documentary that goes into the efforts of some of the local efforts being made by our Long Island neighbors.

We have friends out there like the good folks at Gansett Lane out on Montauk, so there's special interest for us. There are a plethora of events out there, and we'll share the ones we know about, but if you know of one let us know.

While it's great that we've had a day every year to bring awareness to what can happen when we try to live within nature's balance instead of outside it, but we're trying to work for a time when everyday's Earth Day.

We'll let you know

Just a quick note of solidarity...If you've ever been to the warehouse to pick up a piece or strolled in on a weekend jaunt, you may have heard whistling or noticed friendly banter from across the room. For those who didn't know it's usually coming from our Tibetan colleagues, who are some of the friendliest, most valuable members of the FTS team - two of which actually make an appearance in our latest post about ICFF.



It just so happens that this week at the Film Forum, there's a film about the Tibetan struggle in all it's complexity that some of us are going to check out Tuesday evening - THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS. - that is in large part about the demonstrations from March 2008.

Like most events at Film Forum, it always seems like you find out about the movie the day before it's over, and are left hoping that it gets extended. This time, however, we planned ahead, so we'll let you know how it was...hopefully our Tibetan friends will approve.

ICFF, headfirst...

If you didn't make it to the Restaurant or Architectural Digest Home Show, do not fret, ICFF is just around the corner...

Around here, we're busy trying to finalize our booth design, among everything else that goes into the show. This year, we're focused on materiality, and displaying the unique experience FTS offers its customers in custom capabilities. Take a peek at what's going on...

The crew, busy at work



An early shot of our postcard, and some sneaks from the show...


Some of the material that we'll using to create "experiences" in our booth


The boss in action